ServicePRO

ServicePRO is an Enterprise Work Management suite intended to align the delivery of information technology (IT) and other business services with objectives of the enterprise. The focus of ServicePRO is delivery of services using best practice processes.

ServicePRO suite is the glue that binds people, equipment and processes (service requests, collaboration and task flows) in a coherent framework that drives modern enterprises. Top among ServicePRO’s objectives are the following:

• Value and Efficiency - tracking Services delivered vis-à-vis the cost of providing these Services.
• Service Level - are quality and timeliness objectives being met?
• Risk Containment - identifying and evaluating the consequences of risks taken or avoided.
• Collaboration Effectiveness - using the most effective communication channels in a structured method and measuring results.
• Governance and Compliance - ensuring that approved processes are being followed.
• Budget Adherence and Resource Allocation - optimizing the use of available funds and avoiding unnecessary expenditures.

Alerts

An alert is an automated notification indicating that a predefined event has occurred and some action is needed. Alerts allow users to receive critical business information in the quickest and most efficient possible way.

ServicePRO issues alerts to notify appropriate Support Rep(s) when certain ServicePRO events occur. For example: Whenever a request is dispatched to a Queue Folder, all support reps assigned to that queue receive an alert notifying them of the new request. You can enable or disable these notifications depending on your processes and how your organization works.

You can set alerts or notification in ServicePRO in three ways

1. System generated when following event types occur

• Request arrives In Dispatch
• Request is placed In Queue
• Request was moved to another Support Rep
• Request was Updated by another Support Rep or by an end user who opened the request
• Request is Not Closed and past the due date
• Request Resumes when its scheduled date arrives
• Request is Closed
• Request is Auto-Escalated
• Request is designated as Waiting for Response

1. Custom Alerts to get critical information to the right people at the right time. For example, a service desk manager can be automatically informed via email when a critical request is breaching the SLA. These alerts or notifications are triggered by business rules and event based tasks in project templates

2. As needed by manually sending notifications from within the service request in one of two ways:

• By using the notification section of the service request, or
• Using the send email option by selecting the social icon in the Actions tab of the ribbon.

Assets and Configurations

Asset and configuration management can be a powerful step in ensuring proper control of IT resources and in helping organizations optimize the management of IT. ServicePRO supports Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes for best practice service management, including Configuration and Asset Management.

ServicePRO^® begins even earlier, at the purchase requisition and approval stage. Utilizing a repeatable process for acquisition management promotes governance and reduces long term costs by standardizing around tried-and-true products and vendors. It also helps in making sure that resources are effectively utilized and budgets are adhered to. A typical purchase process is presented below.

When it comes to Configuration and Asset Management, ServicePRO® can be used to manage IT assets and license compliance for all hardware, applications, and users in the organization. ServicePRO® makes it easy for organizations to add new assets into its configuration database. In addition, IT can use ServicePRO® to easily locate and manage assets, including viewing available inventory, re-allocating assets, and de-activating assets no longer in use. Organizations can also ensure software updates and security patches are in place and can manage and audit software licenses on computers on the company network to ensure they are compliant with important software licensing agreements.

Considering the fact that 60 percent of IT service impacts are due to configuration problems, ServicePRO® Configuration and Asset Management minimizes issues so local and global organizations can keep their IT lifeblood pumping. That makes good business sense.

Collaborative Workflow

Collaborative Apps

ServicePRO® includes a number of social tools that incorporate directly into the service infrastructure. These tools enable linking of collaboration and communication activities to specific projects, tasks, or calendar items.

Document Management

Document management functions enable us to capture, index, store, manage, search and retrieve documents across the enterprise. It does so while adhering to the security structure that has been set up by the administrator. Documents consist of electronic files like images, spreadsheets, office documents, PDF’s, graphics, emails, drawings, and more.

Many of the standard format documents can be previewed right from within ServicePRO. Examples include Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF’s, PNG image files and more.

Calendar & Synchronization

ServicePRO’s integrated calendars are great for synchronizing and coordinating tasks, and documenting decisions and action plans taken.

They provide greater functionality than Microsoft Outlook because calendar entries are attached to service requests or projects, and are not cluttered with extraneous or confidential data.

Since we don’t expect that you give up Outlook we provide a complete two-way synchronization functionality between Outlook and ServicePRO. (Not that you couldn’t give up Outlook, you could! ServicePRO’s functionality is that comprehensive…)

Customized Processes

ServicePRO® Standardized Processes Enhance Quality

One of the hallmarks of mature Service desks is utilization of standardized processes where possible. ServicePRO® processes help produce consistent outcomes because they communicate and control (orchestrate) who performs each task, how, and when. ServicePRO includes a number of powerful tools that help create and execute sophisticated standardized processes.

These are:

• User-defined fields to create customized service-requests templates
• Custom project templates to orchestrate a number of tasks that comprise the process
• Role Based Access Control that enables appropriate individuals (or teams) to view and execute tasks that are assigned to them.

ServicePRO® Custom User Defined Fields

Custom (user-defined) fields are useful in many situations. For example:

• Specifying requirements for setting up new employees
• Designating certain people as VIP’s so their requests ‘jump the queue’
• Entering information that is unique to some objects, like printers
• Collecting additional information that can help to solve a class of problems, like custom software

Data Analysis

The ServicePRO® Data Analysis module contains a comprehensive suite of reporting features. You can choose from a broad selection of standard reports, or use a standard report as a template for creating one of many types of custom reports.

Data analysis is enhanced by the powerful ServicePRO® Chart Designer, which gives you all the the tools you need to easily create and distribute customized graphical information.

Standard Reports

The ServicePRO® Data Analysis module contains a large array of standard reports which are easy to customize and filter to meet your specific needs. With just a few mouse clicks, you can quickly access business process and IT performance information–in either summary or detail form.

Report Types

Each type of report offers a set of nodes on the report tree for viewing information in various formats–including low, medium, and high detail.

Report types available to you include:

• Service Request Reports
• Purchasing/Asset Reports
• Project Request Reports
• Workstation Reports
• Listing Reports
• Audit Trail
• Overdue Reports
• Asset Reports

Projects

In a service-oriented environment like the IT service desk, tasks are often comprised of sub-tasks, and may be both independent of each other as well as interdependent on one another. For example, two tasks may be performed by different people at different times, but one task relies on output of another task.

This generalized structure can be found is situations ranging from change requests to web site creation.

ServicePRO’s ad-hoc project functionality enables creation of hierarchical structures that consist of requests, child requests and subfolders for efficient management of multi-task projects. Each request within a project has its own workflow properties. It can be routed to different individuals or teams, have its own notification options, priority, start date, due date, etc.

See Example: http://www.servicepro.solutions/helpdesk-solutions-projects.php

Role-Based Access Control

RBAC answers questions like “which service requests show up in Leah’s workspace?”, “Can Jeremy dispatch a complaint request from the MRI Imaging dispatch queue folder?”, or “Can VP’s from our North American Truck Division run reports on the European Piano Division?”

RBAC supports groupings that make it both easier to manage the security database, and enhance integrity. Namely:

• People can be assigned to Teams
• Privileges can be assigned to Roles
• Teams can be assigned to Roles

Without groupings, security management would become an unmanageable, unreliable nightmare in short order. In a situation where there are 1000 users, 100 folder hierarchies, and 30 privileges, we would have 3,000,000 entries to maintain.

With groupings, we simply define roles (collection of privileges) and teams (collection of users), and give them access over departments (or folder subtrees).

Service Level Management

Service Level Management is focused on adhering to metrics that are agreed upon by the providers of service and its consumers.

Commonly used metrics include elapsed time and level of satisfaction. Elapsed time metrics are further refined by time in system, time in queue, time in service, etc.

ServicePRO’s business rules assist in active management of service quality by enabling:

• Workflow changes like priority escalation or skill-level escalation, and
• Notification of breaches (actual or impending), and workflow changes

Much like email processing rules, service request rules are composed of:

• Condition statements
• Workflow responses
• Notification responses

Service Requests

ServicePRO Workbench

As a rich Internet application (RIA), ServicePRO® is designed to deliver the same features and functions normally associated with desktop applications.

However, it does so while running 100% in a browser!

For example, ServicePRO® supports cutting and pasting directly into memo fields (because it runs on a browser in a secure environment), drag & drop functionality (great for visually interactive form designer), a more interactive and enhanced user experience like multiple open windows, responsive grid views, and more.

Self Service Portal

Your service desk may not be staffed around the clock but your ServicePRO self-service portal is always ‘open for business’.

ServicePRO self-service portal empowers your users to:

• Find out answers to their questions even before they reach your service desk,
• Log requests that they cannot resolve by themselves,
• Check up on the progress for their requests,
• Be informed about your service desk

Custom Service Requests

The benefit of custom objects is that they contain information that is precisely tailored to your needs. When you design custom objects, you are creating templates for these objects, and specifying how they will be used and behave in the future – what data they will contain, and how it will be organized and presented.

Custom objects help insure that required data is properly collected, and enhance database integrity.

Clients often begin using custom data in service requests. However, most ServicePRO object type can be customized. Common examples of objects that are often customized include users, clients, assets, and more.

Custom (user-defined) fields are useful in many situations. For example:

• Specifying requirements for setting up new employees
• Designating senior employees as VIP’s so their requests ‘jump the queue’
• Entering information that is unique to some objects, like network servers
• Collecting additional information that can help to solve a class of problems, like custom software

When you create custom request types you can:

• Create ‘specialized’ objects like bug requests, printer error requests, benefits inquiry request, etc.
• Add custom fields grouped in tabs
• Reference other fields from other tables
• Design the ‘look and feel’ of the screen
• Search on user-defined data
• Create charts and report that include user-defined data.

Service Request Templates

In many Helpdesk and business situations, we encounter commonly occurring tasks that are repeated over and over and over& password resets, slow network, paralyzed printers, network connections, bugs, etc.

Quick Request templates are great productivity boosters for increasing speed, reducing error rates, promoting consistency, and insuring that all the information required to act on commonly occurring tasks is provided without requiring back and forth communication between end users and helpdesk staff.

Service Routing Automation

You can designate certain email accounts for inbound emails that ServicePRO monitors then processes incoming emails according to rules you specify.

Inbound email rules save you time and money through :

• Automatic triaging
• Automatic routing
• Automatic notification of all stakeholders
• Virtual elimination of human error
• Ultra efficient request processing